This article describes and illustrates a physics course for first-year college students whose only knowledge of physics is that they do not like the subject. The physics content is driven entirely by what appears in the daily newspapers and generally covers most physics topics in a semester. This course was structured as a learning community that…

Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) significantly enhance the outcomes of students who participate. Unfortunately, students may face barriers to engaging in UREs, which creates challenges for students' development of essential research skills that may not be covered thoroughly in laboratory classes. Overall, there is a need for a curriculum…

The ability to effectively communicate science is a skill sought after by graduate and professional schools as well as by employers in science-related fields. Are content-heavy undergraduate science curricula able to incorporate opportunities to develop science communication skills, and is promoting these skills worth the time and effort? The…

Interdisciplinary education offers a collaborative approach to multifaceted topics, such as environmental sustainability. In this article, we present the conceptual framework and lessons learned from a team-taught course, entitled Sustainability, Energy, and the Green Economy (SEGE). Faculty from the departments of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology…

To develop a context for program-level design decisions pertaining to anthropogenic climate change, the authors studied the prevalence of courses focused on human-induced climate change in undergraduate marine science and environmental science degree programs in the United States. Of the 86 institutions and 125 programs the authors examined, 37%…

This article presents a case study regarding healthy weight loss and the role of the hormone ghrelin in maintaining a lower body weight. This study was designed specifically for use in an introductory college-level physiology course. It addresses the use of the case study in teaching digestion and metabolism, exploring the role of hormones in…

Traditional lecturing has been shown again and again to be a less effective teaching method regarding student engagement and promotion in the sciences. Studies that compare different teaching methods often face limitations because, over time, courses are either substantially changed and/or are taught by different instructors. This article presents…

Successfully engaging students with a community college's introductory biology curriculum is a challenging endeavor. Students have numerous distractions competing with faculty for their attention. Traditional presentation of information may leave students longing for something more engaging to do, and the place where most college-level instruction…

We designed and implemented a first-year seminar in science course at the University of British Columbia to allow students to develop and improve their scientific writing and argumentation skills. To evaluate the efficacy of the course, we examined the progression that students made between the beginning and the end of the course as assessed by…

Undergraduate biology lab courses have long been criticized for engaging students in "cookbook" experiences in which students follow a given protocol to collect data that help answer a predetermined question. Recent reform documents in biology education have suggested that students should engage in lab courses that provide more authentic…

Presents a rearranged general chemistry curriculum in a sequence thought to be more logical to students than the traditional sequence. (Author/KHR)

Examines the educational benefits of an experimental project approach to students taking the last course of an introductory biology sequence. Educational benefits were defined in terms of analytical skills, knowledge of basic statistics, and experience with scientific writing. The study was viewed as a preliminary investigation, but one that…

Describes a course that requires students to work in groups to address local ecological problems of interest to a client external to the university. Students learn the skills needed to apply their knowledge and gain satisfaction by assisting others. The ecological projects provide an important source of feedback to identify the strengths of the…

Describes an interdisciplinary course which investigates ways in which chemical and mathematical concepts inform artistic techniques and art history trends. Outlines the course units and provides examples of their accompanying assignments. (MM)

Outlines the different alternative assessment strategies used by different biology instructors at Florida State University, each teaching a section of a new biology course for prospective elementary and early childhood teachers. Provides suggestions for similar relatively small classes as well as for large college classes. (JRH)